Inside: Learn about Kristen Mangus of GoodKnit Kisses. Includes history, inspiration and the mission and vision of GKK.
Hi I’m Kristen Mangus with GoodKnit Kisses. Thanks for stopping by!
I am a designer who loves to loom knit, needle knit and crochet. My passion is teaching others to craft through tutorial videos on YouTube and my Facebook live broadcasts and group. My motto is, “Stitch your love and love your stitches.” I want you to be able to put your love into each project by giving you the skills you need to succeed in your craft. I design each pattern and tutorial to teach you not only what to do, but why so you can increase your crafting knowledge. I live in the beautiful state of Texas with my husband, our three kids and two hyper pups.
Please use and share this site as a FREE resource for your crafting community.
To purchase GoodKnitKisses patterns, please visit my Etsy shop or look for my patterns on Ravelry.com. Your purchases help support me and allow me to continue to provide FREE video tutorials. Thank you!
Have fun and Happy Crafting!
Mission Statement:
To inspire, encourage and empower people through education and design.
Vision Statement:
Our vision is to leave an inspired crafting world for future
generations that continues to teach and reach others.
About Kristen Mangus
Kristen’s History:
Kristen Mangus studied Interior Design at Texas Christian University which was FIDER accredited. Graduating in 1999 with a Bachelors of Science degree in Interior Design Kristen also received a minor in Lighting for Visual Presentation. Studies in Lighting required extra training in school and with professionals in retail design, stage & theatre, Dance/ Ballet and hospitality (hotels and art display). Kristen is highly skilled in space planning, forecasting for future challenges and tackling now as well as problem solving for current challenges. Kristen sat for her NCIDQ examination and passed in 2001 and has been a registered Interior Designer with the State of Texas since 2002.
In college Kristen had picked up a job at MJDesigns (was after the split from Michaels MJ Designs; they became two different companies). In a bit of trivia, Kristen was on their sand volleyball team and help win the company a championship trophy! She worked in the floral department churning out custom bows for clients from the hair-bow, to packages to huge car bows! This was fun for her as she even crafted in high school making mums for Homecoming for extra cash with her mom as well as hair bows and jewelry. In junior high and high school Kristen called her crafting business Kristen’s Krafts!
At MJDesigns she learned more about the crafts she used to enjoy as a kid and designing floral arrangements as well. She went on to pick up several side crafting gigs after leaving MJDesigns including Wedding floral designs and planning. She called that business Angelbearries Floral Designs and alway had that entrepreneurial spirit. Kristen had also learned as a child to crochet a bit from her great Aunt and self-taught how to finger knit, latch hook and plastic canvas. However she didn’t pick up any other yarn skills until married with children.
Inspiration to Knit:
When experiencing the pains of postpartum depression after her third child in 2010, Kristen decided to pick up knitting and crochet books and learn as a form of crafting therapy. The books came in and she studied them feeling a bit overwhelmed. Onward then, to a late night trip to Walmart, Kristen happened upon a set of Knifty Knitter looms and thought…this looks easier! Having carpel tunnel at the time meant the looms should be less strenuous and they were! She found the directions were not as great as they should be and was disappointed with the designs. “Why can’t loom patterns look like needle versions?!”, she thought. And so her journey started from there. In 2011 Kristen Mangus started the YouTube channel for GoodKnit Kisses (known as GoodKnitKisses on YT). It has been quite a journey so far and through having 3 kids, a full time career, then YouTube at night it finally became time to jump all the way in.
In late August 2014 Kristen Mangus left her job and took the leap of staying home with her kids and working on GoodKnit Kisses YouTube full time.
It’s been a wonderful ride since that time and GoodKnit Kisses has grown by leaps and bounds. Over the years Kristen has filmed hundreds of video tutorials, designed dozens of patterns for loom knitters, needle knitters and crocheters, been featured on Knit & Crochet Now, HSN and written several publications about loom knitting.
Tony May
Sunday 9th of March 2025
I am completely blind and attempting to learn to loom knit. I have listened to a lot of your videos and really like the attention to detail you give to every step. The one thing I have not been able to figure out is how to get an appropriate yarn tension. Everything is either too tight to pull the yarn over the peg or so loose that stitches are falling off the pegs. Is there some trick to learning how to make the tension appropriate and consistent?
Scott Durbin
Tuesday 4th of March 2025
I am trying to figure out how to do an afghan with two colors, a main blue color and then a pyramid pattern in the middle in a different color. I can't figure out which video to watch. I subscribed with my email for your newsletter. I have started with just afghans and changing colors when I run out of one color and go to the next, but now I want to learn how it add the color in the middle of the pattern but I can't figure it out myself. I would greatly appreciate your help. (BTW I am 69 year old male who just started knitting on a loom in the last three years.) I use a long loom and I built my own afghan size loom with the flexi loom pieces. Ine is for larger yarn and has 144 pegs and the smaller yarn loom has 168 pegs.
GoodKnit Kisses
Wednesday 5th of March 2025
Welcome to the wonderful world of loom knitting! If I understand you correctly you want to have just the center section of the afghan in a contrast color, right? Since you work across the rows you will need 2 separate balls of yarn in the main color for each side and one of the contrast color in the middle. You start your row with one ball of the main color. When you reach the color change, twist the main color and contrast colors to lock them between the stitches. To twist the colors pick up the ball of yarn your were just working with and wrap it over the top and around the strand of the new color. Then just continue your row using the contrast color. When you finish your contrast color in the center, twist it around the strand for second ball of your main color to finish the row. Does that make sense?
Laurie Lasala-Tuttle
Saturday 22nd of February 2025
I'd love to receive your newsletter if you still send one out. Thanks so much!!
Arnita
Tuesday 18th of February 2025
do you have a video that shows how to use a loom for flat knitting?
Carla
Monday 17th of February 2025
Hi, I have a question regarding your 6 sizes grandmas eyelet blanket. I just started it and I am questioning Row 13. Are there supposed to be three k2. It says… K2,yo,K2,yo,K2. Purl to last 6 stitches. K6. That gives one side of the blanket border 8 stitches and the other 6 stitches. Am I not getting something here? I would appreciate hearing from you whether this is correct or not. Thank you so much for your time. Carla Vine. P.s. I have two brothers living in north Texas. One in Denton, one in Oak Point.